


Out on the main streets completing your mission

by gunboots



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M, Pacific Rim AU, Violence, eren and jean in drift suits, mentions of minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2013-09-11
Packaged: 2017-12-26 03:46:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/961211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunboots/pseuds/gunboots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But Jean's not drift compatible with Ackerman, and it's a shame because they'd be able to do good together. He just knows that together, they'd be the best.</p><p>"You still sulking? Seriously, how old are you?" Ymir can't fucking complain--she's paired up with Reiner. She doesn't have to worry about him going off the fucking rails.</p><p> </p><p>a.k.a Jean and Eren's first time in the drift and how it wasn't a complete failure (depending on who you ask).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out on the main streets completing your mission

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [Fish](http://buyavowel.tumblr.com/), because we talked about this the MINUTE we both finished watching Pacific Rim and then this continued to stay in my google docs for forever. 
> 
> I have no real excuse, only that I really wanted Jean as a bitter jaded veteran who's lost people in the Jaeger program paired up with hot-blooded rookie Eren as his drift partner. Yes, I'm fully aware I pretty much made Eren Mako in this scenario and Marco is Yancy so oops my bad. 
> 
> Thanks for [Binni](http://archiveofourown.org/users/binni) for the quick beta work and assuring me that this makes some kind of sense. Any further errors are mine. Title is from the song "Undercover Martyn" from Two Door Cinema Club.

It's no secret Jean is skeptical. 

If he was being polite (talking to the higher-ups), he'd say the pairing was 'dicey'. Since he's not actually talking to Corporal Levi or Commander Erwin, he tells everyone this is a fucking mistake. And it's worse because this is the _Jaeger_ program; you can't afford mistakes in the Jaeger program. Best case scenario? You pay for it with your life. Worst case scenario, millions of people pay for it with theirs.

Eren Jaeger is hot-headed, brash, and quick to disobey orders. He's also a rookie; all of that is just a cocktail that promises fuck-ups galore.

Jean can't afford any of that, not fucking again.

Honestly he'd still rather have Ackerman. Ackerman's capable, Ackerman's lethal, logical, and wouldn't let her emotions compromise an entire mission.

But he's not drift compatible with Ackerman, and it's a shame because they'd be able to do good together. He just knows that together, they'd be the best.

"You still sulking? Seriously, how old are you?" Ymir can't fucking complain--she's paired up with Reiner. She doesn't have to worry about him going off the fucking rails. 

Besides, she's got Christa waiting for her after every mission, watching out from the sidelines with the brass. She could be paired up with a rotting piece of kaiju brain and she wouldn't give a damn.

"We're not even going to leave the launch bay, just watch," Jean challenges, tugging at his suit. On the best of days it's confining, but now he's chafing like hell.

"It's just a test run. Be more dramatic." Ymir tone just barely skims disdainful, like she honestly can't be bothered with him. Jean really hates it when she uses it on him. "So you didn't get your crush. It's not like we're here to save _humanity_ , or anything. Quit your bitching."

He'd argue because it's not like that, but she's just raising a brow and he knows what she's saying even without the words.

He sighs instead, opens his mouth to respond when, with horrible timing as usual, Eren strolls into the hanger. Of course, the jaeger suit looks great on him; looks like he's completely comfortable in the damn thing. Eren Jaeger in a Jaeger, honestly, Jean can already tell he’s never going to hear the end of it. 

“Let's get this over with," Jean says instead of a greeting. Ymir already taking her leave with the buzz from the crew to hook them up to the system.

"Any advice?" Eren asks, reaching for his helmet. Jean looks over and sees in the neon lights of the cockpit, and the swarm of people around them that he's as white as a sheet, nervous, like he's not sure what to expect. Well, Jean can take comfort that at least Eren's not completely lost to reason.

"Don't chase the rabbit." Eren snaps the helmet on, nodding just slightly as the buckles strap together. Jean follows suit, the crews already taking their leave. The anticipation is making his palms sweat as they stand there.

He hears Eren swallow, the sound loud as the cockpit doors shut and the machine whirrs to start up. There's only their breathing now as the head of the jaeger is being lowered.

"Five minutes till neural handshake," Comes Armin's voice clear as a bell through the comms. Jean already knows most of the other pilots will be watching them, even Dot Pixis himself has made an appearance.

"Hey."

Eren glances over. His posture is taut, like a bowstring waiting to be tugged. Jean can practically hear his heartbeat going a mile a minute, and he's not even drifting with him yet.

"You'll do fine." While Jean may doubt Eren's mental capacity, may still think this may end in a spectacular failure, he can't actually deny that outside Eren's personality, he's got the capability to be a pilot. Eventually with training and time, maybe even a good one. Still, he feels like it needs to be said now regardless, that he might as well get it out in the open since in less than five minutes Eren's going to be in his head anyway.

"Three minutes," Armin chimes in. The world feels so far away already.

"You don't really believe that," Eren replies, and if he wasn't so wound up, it'd probably be as wry as his expression. Jean isn't apologetic, but he does smirk.

"Prove it, rookie." Eren's lips quirk and he relaxes his posture just the littlest bit.

"Two minutes."

"You know it goes both ways," Eren challenges, but it comes out apprehensive, almost apologetic. "Try to keep up."

And Jean knows: he's read the reports, knows that Eren's past isn't going to be a pleasant experience. There's really nothing he can do but wait it out, and keep his focus. Lance Corporal Levi dragged him back here for a reason.

"T-minus thirty seconds."

"You wish, Jaeger." Jean snorts, trying for non-chalance and probably failing. He closes his eyes, and braces himself for the impact.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Eren's mind is jumbled. Images and memories revolving around Jean like someone forcing him into a video of thoughts, sights, and sounds.

It overlaps his own memories, and the disconnect almost feels physically painful. Two minds trying to form a bond strong enough to hold as one.

Eren is a sudden fixture in his mind, like he's been there all along and Jean has never acknowledged his presence before, like something newly discovered.

Eren is standing in Jean's living room, watching as Jean's parents cower under the dinner table, holding him between them. The roar of a kaiju miles away, yet loud enough that it feels like it's next door, the ground is shaking and his mother's good dishes are rattling off the shelves and crashing to the floor.

Jean is standing next to Eren, watching as Eren's father goes on another house call, Eren's beautiful mother waving goodbye. The table is set for three.

It's Jean's first day of training for Jaeger-piloting, Eren's watching as Jean throws up from his first drift, Marco sympathetic as he pats his back. Corporal Levi tutting in distaste, making them run laps around the base after. Marco jogging next to him in the moonlight, the sky clear and full of stars.

Eren is getting the shit kicked out of him by some kids his age, trying and failing to defend Armin. Both of them sporting back eyes and in the faint sunset, Armin applies Band-Aids to their scrapes and bruises. Jean can only look on as Eren lies away the pain to their fretful parents.

Marco and Jean after their first kaiju fight, Jean's laugh as they finally leave the cockpit, more out of relief and _holy fuck we're alive_ , than actual joy. 

The sun shining over the ruins of a city they've barely saved Marco's arms holding him up, strong and sturdy at his side.

Eren's following his father on a house call, tells him to be good, tells him that there's a special little girl that he'd like Eren to be friends with. The forest behind the cabin is thick, and Jean can't help but be intimidated by the way it looms.

Marco and Jean's second fight, their third fight. The way Jean and Marco pose proudly next to their jaeger.

"-- _Where's Mikasa_?" Eren's father is a shadow, his voice distorted. There's anger, panic, and fear. Everything is tinged so heavily with emotion that Jean almost thinks he can't breathe. The room is covered in blood, the smell of it thick like a miasma--

Eren and Jean are in a jaeger cockpit, the loud roar of a hurricane outside, the chills going down Jean's spine as he realizes he can't figure out where the hell the fucking kaiju is and--

Eren is running, he's running deeper into the forest, searching for a girl he's never met, hoping to save her, never thinking someone will need to save him--

The feeling of fatigue, of putting everything into just knocking the fucking monster down. The sound of claws outside the cockpit, the look on Marco's face as they breach through the metal--

Eren is throwing himself at two strange men, there's a fire in the woods that barely illuminates their faces, he's got a knife in his hands, and he's only half their size but he's fast, so fast, and--

Jean tries to make a grab for whatever's ripping the cockpit apart, he's screaming for Marco to disengage, get the fuck behind him--

Mikasa is screaming there's a third man, there's a third--

Marco won't disengage, Marco's being ripped out of the cockpit, there's the brash feeling of the ice cold winds outside, Marco's being swallowed alive. There's fear, panic, and then...nothing.

Mikasa is running, Mikasa has the knife in her hands, Mikasa is lunging towards the third man--

Jean is trying to pilot the jaeger, everything feels like it's on fire, Jean is so desperate to just kill what's in front of him, what took his other half away--

Mikasa and Eren, running to Eren's father, Jean wonders if Eren can see the alarm in his own father's eyes at the blood on their hands.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jean hears the crackle of comms, of someone shouting about alignment and calibration but before he can focus on it, he's being pulled back, the cockpit hazy in front of his eyes.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jean is crashing. His jaeger is falling and he's drowning; the storm's settling but he can't breathe. His lungs are on fire and Eren's hovering next to him; Jean tries to reach for him, but grabs water instead. The light of a helicopter illuminates Eren's face above him.

Jean literally feels like he's suffocating on the sensations.

And just like they're dragged into his memories, they're all but shoved back into Eren's. The remains of a table set for four, a roof collapsing on top of Eren's mother, Eren and Mikasa crying, trying to dig her out, ignoring the stomping getting closer. Fighting and screaming as someone drags them away from her.

Everything bleeding together, everything hurts and festers and there's so much….

"I'll kill them, I'll fucking kill them." Jean doesn't just hear it, he feels it. Eren's hatred is thick, his anger is so strong it's overwhelming. It’s the first time that Eren’s ever felt so powerless--has tried to face something and been hopelessly overpowered, that no matter how much Eren tried he couldn’t do…anything.

And that's when Jean realizes that Eren isn't moving, Eren's just standing there, chanting it over and over and fuck, fuck, fuck he knows what that means--

"Wake up, you idiot. Wake the fuck up." Jean's grabbing him, trying to get Eren to look at him. "I told you NOT to chase the rabbit, you dumbass!"

And it's like a switch has been turned on, Jean's suddenly aware of the very loud, and very pissed voices of Corporal Levi and Mikasa over the comms, of the stern worry in Commander Erwin's tone as he speaks over them and shit, Jean needs to fix this now. He's back in the cockpit of Wall Maria, and Eren's not moving, won't look past the images in his mind.

"Eren, stop it. This isn't REAL." And there's no change in their shared consciousness, there's only Eren and Mikasa screaming. There’s the sound of a kaiju coming closer and fuck protocol, if Jean doesn't stop him Eren's going to blow them sky high trying to fight something in his mind--

Jean punches Eren.

HARD.

Hard enough to knock his subconscious back, and the scenery around them flickers like a movie reel being jostled.

"You want to fucking kill those things? Then get your shit together and get up. You need to focus or you won't get your revenge." He's all but stomping over, picking Eren up by his collar. “Get UP, Jaeger, or there'll be no fight for you!"

Eren slowly glances back at him, like it's all coming into focus and Jean has to FIGHT the urge to shake him awake. In his ears he can hear the distinct words of ' _court martialed_ ' and ' _solitary confinement_ ' and even ' _what the hell are you doing KIRSTEIN_ ', but he doesn't focus on that, instead he pulls Eren closer, makes sure to get up in his face and hold his gaze.

"You want revenge? Well so do I! We'll fucking do it together, ok? Now get up and prove to me that we're drift compatible."

Eren finally, finally, focuses his gaze on him. It feels like an eternity, but he pushes Jean off of him, eyes narrowing. Something that feels like a brush of nerves crackles in Jean’s consciousness.

"Okay."

They both rise. And from that moment, Jean feels Eren with him, finally feels the connection of the drift shift and settle like a shroud on their shoulders. He can feel Eren’s heart beating on top of his.

Wall Maria slams its fist into its palm, and bows. The clang of metal echoes loudly around them, the entire base seems quiet.

"Neural handshake holding; system engaged," Comes the nearly breathless report over the airwaves barely a second later, followed by almost desperate cheers.

Eren and Jean take a deep breath, and lower their hands.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Corporal Levi takes barely twenty minutes to rip them to shreds, all the while Commander Erwin interjects and it’s vaguely disappointed and hurts just as much emotionally. The both of them convey the general consensus of _‘this-can-never-ever-happen-again-do-you-fucking-understand-us’_.

It’s only when Dot Pixis steps in that they both back down, and this is where Jean feels the most apprehension. Pixis is a legend. He had the highest kaiju count before they forced him into being head of the Jaeger program.

It’s a tense moment and Jean thinks that they’re about to be quietly drummed out of the service. Last thing Pixis needs is for them to cock it all up again. (Not that they will, because they won’t. They’ll do better; they will be better.) 

And Jean doesn’t even need to look at Eren to know he’s probably thinking the same.

Pixis however, keeps studying the two of them, purposefully obtuse until he finally lets out a laugh and smacks Jean and Eren both in the shoulder.

_What the hell._

“That was amazing, kids. I haven’t seen a drift compatibility that potent since the two behind me.” And Jean can’t actually help the staring because nothing is actually registering to him right now. Not even the way Levi’s eyes narrow and Erwin coughs down what could have been a surprised laugh. 

Distantly Jean thinks he’ll have to find out the story there, one day.

Honestly he’s just focusing on the part where he’s not being fired.

Or court-martialed.

Or executed.

He was pretty much expecting the worst here.

“What?”

“Of course you two will need more training before we get you both out there, but I look forward to seeing you two on the field.” Pixis continues like Eren and Jean hadn’t almost lost control at all, Jean must be feeling the after effects of the drift still since he just KNOWS Eren is wearing the same expression of ‘are you serious’ on his face.

“Get these two ready for more training tomorrow, we’re going to need them soon. We can’t afford to have any jaegers benched,” Pixis says, turning to beam at Corporal Levi and Commander Erwin before briskly motioning for them to follow. “Now about the other pilots…”

There’s silence as Erwin and Levi leave and it’s just Jean and Eren standing there in the control room.

There were probably worse ways to start a connection with someone who was eventually going to be your drift partner.

“So we’re—“ Eren begins, surprisingly hesitant for all his bravado earlier.

“—Partners,” Jean finishes, catching his eye. “We’ve got a shit ton of work to do, so you best prepare yourself rookie.”

Jean still doesn’t quite think Eren’s a perfect fit, and it’s going to take time to get over that. He has, however, seen Eren’s worst, and Eren’s seen his, so there’s really nowhere to go but up.

And that’s something at least.

The drift was strong, the neural handshake held perfectly.

Jean may not like it now (he’ll get over it eventually, maybe), but he can’t deny instinct. And he felt that with Eren. Even if he doesn't want to focus on it. Not now, not yet, but there’s a connection. Something that will grow stronger in time.

Things…things could be different.

Things would be different.

“Come on, Eren—let’s go spar, your left arm needs some work.”

“You should talk, I saw what happened to your right—“

“—Don’t forget who actually had you on the floor earlier during sparring—“

“—You tripped me that doesn’t count.”

They’ll be alright after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I did name their Jaeger 'Wall Maria' and yes I am actually that sorry I did.


End file.
